BSE Sensex crashes by 168 points in trading

Mumbai, Jan 23: The Sensex today crashed by 168 points and closed lower at 14,041.24 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on sustained heavy offloading by bear operators.

The Sensex, which had opened firm, kept sliding as the day progressed. Squaring up of long positions and covering of short positions today itself, ahead of the expiry of January 2007 derivatives contracts on January 25, contributed to the fall.

The 30-shares BSE Sensex lost 168 points (1.18 per cent), to end at 14,041.24. It had opened a bit higher at 14,212.12 (also the day's high), but started declining due to heavy selling. It also plunged to a low of 14,025.74, in the late-afternoon session of trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE was down by 36.35 points (0.89 per cent), to 4,066.10 before it resumed flat at 4102.65 points. The Nifty index recorded a day's high at 4105.10 and a low at 4056.45 points.

The market-breadth was weak, as a host of small-cap and mid-cap stocks came under pressure. For 1,723 shares that declined, only 913 advanced and 60 scrips remained unchanged on BSE. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4040 crore, higher than Rs 3,719 crore on Monday. Among the 30-Sensex pack, 28 declined and only 2 eked out gains.

The BSE BANKEX and METAL indices also plunged by 162.09 points and 84.87 points respectively. They closed lower at 7314.61 points for BANKEX index and for METAL index at 8897.65 points, followed by PSU index by 80.17 points and quoted at 6149.75 points, CG index by 74.51 and touched 9326.99 points, MID CAP index by 69.98 points and qouted at 6014.18 points, HC index by 64.88 points and closed at 3833.61 points, SML CAP index by 63.82 points and touched 7501.28 points and AUTO index by 49.35 points and closed at 5601.31 points.

The tech-sensitive Nikkei ended down by 15.61 points (0.09 per cent), at 17,408.57, after rising as high as 17,442.00 late in the afternoon. The broader TOPIX index added 0.02 per cent to 1,730.76.

The Dow Jones fell 88.37 points, or 0.70 per cent, to end at 12,477.16. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index declined 7.55 points, or 0.53%, to finish at 1,422.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 20.24 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at 2,431.07.

The New York Mercantile Exchange's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, was down by USD 0.04 at USD 52.54 a barrel, from its level of USD 52.58 in late trading in the US overnight. The February contract expired at USD 51.13. Brent North Sea crude for March was at USD 54.64, down USD 0.06, brokers said.

Cement shares were in the red due to the lifting of customs duty on all its varieties. ACC (down by 6.97 per cent to Rs 1038) was the top loser. It had also slipped to a low of Rs 1031. Gujarat Ambuja Cements tanked 6.78 per cent to Rs 136.80. It had slipped to a low of Rs 135.10. The counter clocked 39.13 lakh shares on BSE.

Other cement shares to fall were Grasim (down by 2.93 per cent to Rs 2810), Mangalam Cement (down by 8.93 per cent to Rs 224.35), Mysore Cement (down by 6.97 per cent to Rs 62), Birla Corporation (down 7.83 per cent to Rs 338), Ultratech Cement (down by 4.65 per cent to Rs 1060), Shree Cement (down 4.54 per cent to Rs 1425), JK Lakshmi Cement (down by 4.42 per cent to Rs 173.15), Anjani Portland (down by 13.53 per cent to Rs 36.10), India Cement (down by 8.73 per cent to Rs 220.65) and Madras Cement (down 4.86 per cent to Rs 3455).

The customs duty on all varieties of cement, except white cement, has been cut to zero from 12.5 per cent. Analysts reckon that cement prices in only a few regions, mainly restricted to Bangladesh, and to some extent Sri Lanka, could be impacted due to increase in imports following the lifting of import duty. Cement being a bulky commodity, freight costs account for a large portion of its retail cost. Prices in the interior regions are unlikely to be affected as a result.

Dr Reddy's Lab (DRL) plunged by 5.28 per cent to Rs 767.10, after results missed street expectations. The drugmaker reported a surge in net profit in December 2006 quarter after trading hours on Monday. However, the stock recovered from a low of Rs 772.

PSU bank SBI declined 4.53 per cent to Rs 1168.75. Its third quarter net profit stood at Rs 1,065 crore, down by 4.5 per cent from Rs 1,115.1 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was down by 1.05 per cent to Rs 1359, on a volume of 3.65 lakh shares. It had also struck a high of Rs 1381.

Bharti Airtel was the top gainer, up by 1.60 per cent to Rs 687.15, on a volume of 3.93 lakh shares. The company posted a net profit of Rs 1043.69 crore for the quarter ended December 2006, compared to Rs 538.68 crore for the quarter ended December 2005.

Total revenue increased to Rs 4723.68 crore (Rs 2936.03 crore), brokers said.

UNI